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High Flow Stationary Oxygen Concentrators

This entry was posted on April 9, 2020 by Scott Ridl.

Sometimes an oxygen concentrator with a high flow is necessary to meet a patient's oxygen requirements. A higher setting is often needed for more severe cases of low oxygen in the bloodstream. When someone with healthy lungs takes a breath, they are really only breathing in 21% oxygen in the air. For someone with moderate to severe COPD, that percent will be much lower.

Oxygen concentrators support two types of oxygen delivery flow – continuous and pulse (or intermittent). To clarify, continuous flow oxygen setting puts out a constant flow of air through the nasal cannula or mask, irrespective of when a patient breathes. Pulse dose releases oxygen in pulses, also referred to as a bolus, usually according to the patient’s breathing pattern.

There are two kinds of oxygen concentrators, known as home oxygen concentrators (HOC) and portable oxygen concentrators (POC). You can tell the difference just by looking at the device. POCs are compact and lightweight, whereas HOC are big and powerful. Home units lack mobility like the POCs; therefore, they are also known as stationary oxygen concentrators. Most of the POCs feature only pulse dose setting, only a few of them have both continuous and pulse flow. In contrast, stationary units have only continuous flow settings.

High Flow Concentrators at Different Elevations

'High flow' home units have settings that go as high as 10 LPM (liters per minute) of continuous flow. Some can go only up to 5 LPM. While the highest settings that POCs have are 3 LPM and 196 ml/min of pulse dose oxygen. Portable concentrators can't be high flow because they need to be small enough to carry around comfortably. High continuous flow oxygen concentrators are more powerful and need to be larger to hold all the inner workings needed to run on high settings.

High Flow Oxygen Units with Up to 10 LPM:

They have a provision for a humidifier that can be used on the high oxygen flow. The humidifier is necessary on the higher oxygen settings because the higher flow of air can be much drier and more irritating to the airways. The humidity helps to cut down on irritation and issues like a bloody nose or sore throat. You may even need to use this on the lower settings during particularly dry times of the year.

High flow oxygen concentrators are larger and heavier than the ones that go only up to 5 LPM. The heaviest and largest is the AirSep Intensity 10, which weighs in at 58 pounds and stands at 27.5 inches tall and 16.5 inches wide. It can be used as a nebulizer machine. The Invacare Platinum 10 and the Respironics Millennium 10 both weigh 53 pounds and are 18 and 19 inches tall respectively. Despite their weight, they can still be easily taken from one room to another because of the wheels on the bottom.

With the advancement in medical technology, both portable and stationary oxygen concentrators are getting smaller and smarter. Possibly in a few years, we might see the release of a portable oxygen concentrator that can be as small as the current ones and still offer 4 LPM or even 5 LPM of continuous flow oxygen.

Related Information

About Scott Ridl: Scott joined American Medical Sales and Rentals in 2008 as a Web Manager and Content Writer. He is a writer and designer. He is extensively trained on oxygen therapy products from leading manufacturers such as Inogen, Respironics, Chart, Invacare, ResMed and more.
Scott works closely with respiratory therapists and oxygen specialists to educate the community about oxygen therapy products, COPD, asthma and lung diseases. He writes weekly columns and is passionate about educating the community on oxygen therapy and respiratory issues.

25 thoughts on “High Flow Stationary Oxygen Concentrators”

Please send me info on both Invacare Platinum 10 and Respirionics Millenium 10. I am an athlete and want to absorb good oxygen during my resting state and sleep. I want 10 LPM or higher if this is safe for the body

Thank you for your comment, Robert. I will have an Oxygen Specialist reach out to you regarding your request. For immediate assistance you're welcome to contact us directly via 877-774-9271 or [email protected]

My father-in-law is in need of a hi-flow stationary oxygen generator. Please send me info on the Platinum 10 and the Respirionics Millenium 10. Can the info be sent via e-mail or does it need to be mailed?

Thank you for your comment, Frank. I have passed along your request to one of our Oxygen Specialists who will reach out shortly regarding your request. For more immediate assistance, feel free to give us a call at 877-774-9271.

Thank you for your inquiry. I have passed along your information to a specialist who will reach out regarding your request. For more immediate assistance feel free to give our specialists a call at 888-360-9628 or if you prefer email [email protected]

Thank you for your inquiry. I have passed along your information to a specialist who will reach out regarding your request. For more immediate assistance feel free to give our specialists a call at 888-360-9628 or if you prefer email [email protected]

I am 69yrs old and just got out of the hospital. I need to be on Oxygen 24/7 & I have extreme anxiety. I am so afraid of losing power & having NO Oxygen. Can you send me some info on Battery Oxygen? Thank you

Hi Janet, I have passed along your request to one of our oxygen specialist and they will be reaching out to you shortly. In the meantime feel free to give us a call at 888-360-989 or if you prefer email [email protected] We look forward to helping you with your oxygen needs.

My brother is in need of a high flow concentrator. He needs 9-10 LPM and is having trouble with his concentrator only putting out 6. Need info on Invacare Platinium 10 and Respirionics Millinium 10...asap please send info by e-mail thank you Joann

With a high-flow oxygen concentrator, one can use a high-flow nasal cannula. High-flow nasal cannulas can supply up to 15 liters/minute (LPM), whereas standard cannulas deliver up to 6 LPM. Click here to check 4' High Flow Nasal Cannula.

I have COPD Lobectomy - meaning most of my problems are caused by having upper lobe of my left lung (1/2 gone) removed 43 years ago! Now Medicare says they will only provide me with ONE single battery. When I am up and moving about (doing housework, walking, etc.), my pulse oximeter drops to about 80. I need to get more capacity out of my portable unit because on a setting of 5, I only have about an hour and 15 minutes of time to get everything done. Not possible. Do you know if Medicare has any kind of additional assistance for folks with a rare disease? I just noticed at NIH website, that Spontaneous Pneumothorax has been listed under the FLCN gene - renamed from the BHD gene which causes Birt-Hogg-Dube Syndrome. Half my left lung was removed due to numerous Spontaneous Pneumothoraces from 1975-1978. Doctors back then said this was very common, and that I could NOT pass this down to my own children. However, my 24 year old daughter began having SPs in 2006, and subsequently had a VATS procedure to remove the lung tissue with blebs. At least, I hope she won't experience what I'm currently going through.